Russian-Chinese initiative on North Korea recognized as useful — Lavrov

In 2017, Russia and China came up with a joint initiative based on a road map to resolve the Korean Peninsula issue

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TOKYO, March 21. /TASS/. The Russian-Chinese initiative aimed at resolving the situation on the Korean Peninsula has been recognized as useful during contacts between Pyongyang and Seoul, as well as in regard to the proposed contacts between North Korea and the US, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday following talks with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono.

According to Lavrov, Russia has been calling on all the parties concerned to take peaceful steps to advance the political and diplomatic process aimed at resolving not only the nuclear issue but also other regional security issues.

"We believe that the implementation of the Russian-Chinese road map would help achieve these goals, as a number of its provisions have been recognized as rather useful during contacts between the two Korean states and in regard to the announced high-level meeting between North Korea and the United States," the Russian top diplomat pointed out.

In 2017, Russia and China came up with a joint initiative based on a road map to resolve the Korean Peninsula issue. The initiative stipulates that North Korea should suspend its nuclear and missile programs, while South Korea and the United Nations should reduce the scope of their joint military exercises. According to the road map, Pyongyang and Washington should build dialogue, which would later involve all the interested parties.

On March 5-6, a South Korean delegation particularly comprising National Security Office Director and Special Presidential Envoy Chung Eui-yong and National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon visited Pyongyang, seeking to pave the way for rapprochement between the two Korean states and facilitate dialogue between North Korea and the United States. The delegation held four-hour talks with Kin Jong-un, after which it was announced that the leaders of the two Korean states would meet in late April. In addition, Pyongyang expressed readiness to hold consultations on ways to improve relations with Washington and suspend nuclear and missile tests for the duration of talks.